"…then there was the year we homeschooled the kids!"

A Day in Pictures

Thursday is turning out to be a slow motion day for all of us in the department of energy and emotions. Molly, our 9-month-old, was up and down most of the night with congestion. At 3 am I decided to take myself, the alarm clock, and Molly downstairs so she could sleep inclined in her swing. That seemed to have done the trick. All in all, I may have gotten about 5 hours of sleep. I did end up waking up a little late at 5:30 am – the alarm is set for 4:30 – so I started my jog a little late and without time to drink a cup of coffee. I did end up fitting in 3 miles, but it wasn’t very enjoyable. My body felt like a heavy weight bearing down on the hard, wet surface of our neighborhood roads. The soaking rain that last night endured gave the morning a dreary feeling of darkness and gloom. Perhaps staying in bed would have been a better choice. Then again, I took my one day allowance for sleeping in yesterday, which means that I couldn’t miss my run today. Especially considering that I probably know more than, or as much as, anyone else that once you miss two days, three is easier, then four, then before you know it two weeks have gone by, which quickly turns into six months. I have learned to beat that game.

The entire family seemed to wake up at odds with themselves this morning. Annie was in a very bad mood and decided to take it out on all of us over the fact that we were out of cinnamon toast crunch. Getting her to come eat her peanut butter toast and put on her uniform was like trying to calm a tantalized wild animal. She is sweet, but can be vicious when the morning doesn’t go her way. A large tantrum later that resulted in her being carried to the table kicking and screaming, and a pretend phone call to her teacher to let her know that Annie wouldn’t eat her breakfast so she wouldn’t be in school, seemed to do the trick. Oh, plus a hug and a kiss. Oh, and threatening her by telling her that if she didn’t put on her uniform Jane would have to put in on and go to school in her place. I may have missed a trick or two, but whatever they were, it worked. She finally got ready and out of the door with Daddy who somehow got her all the way to Madison from Hendersonville on time despite the fact that they left late. Congrats, Super Daddy!

Jane woke up in a good mood, but as the morning wore on she started to act very tired as well. Once we started our school day she made it through Religion energetic and ready to learn, but I started to notice that she was yawning a lot and her eyes looked bloodshot. Her nose was a little runny as well. Perhaps she is coming down with Molly’s cold? Considering that we are ahead in all of her subjects, I decided to just do one lesson in each subject this morning then let her rest. This is the beauty of homeschooling. It took us about an hour to complete our lessons for the day. Jane is now laying on the couch with her special blanket and her pillow resting. Jane would often have days like that at school. If she was a little tired or in a bad mood her whole day would be an uproar of outbursts and an emotional whirlwind. When that would happen, I didn’t even have to talk to her teacher because pulling up in the car line for pick-up, then seeing the look on not only Jane’s face, but her teachers as well, said it all. Hopefully after a day to rest and start to feel better, Jane will be ready to go tomorrow. She should be excited because tomorrow is Art day. 🙂

I titled this “A Day in Pictures” then ended up saying a lot. So, I guess I should go back and change the title, but realistically, I’m tired today as well so I’m just going to leave it. Here is a glimpse into what our week has looked like so far, with the exception of this first picture, which was just so cute that I had to put it in here. So, lo and behold, here are those pictures I was talking about:

“Molly Eating Grahams”

“Annie’s First Day of Pre-Kindergarten at Saint Joseph School”

“Tuesday Morning Outside School”

“Annie and I to The Library We Go”

“Jane Inspecting the Blooms”

“A REALLY TERRIBLE PICTURE OF DOWNTOWN NASHVILLE”

“Annie Participating in Storytime at the Nashville Public Libary”

(she’s the one in the green tutu)

“Jane and Her New Friend Participating in Little Red Riding Hood at Storytime”